Windies can spring a surprise: Dravid

Kingston, May 13
Shortly after setting foot on Caribbean soil, Indian captain Rahul Dravid cautioned his young guns not to make the mistake of taking the West Indies lightly, saying the opposition has the strength to topple the best in business.

Dravid heaped praise on the quality present in the West Indies line-up as he brought over his largely young but successful team for an arduous two-month tour of the Caribbean.

“Any team that has players of the quality of Lara, Sarwan, Gayle and Chanderpaul got to be a serious batting line-up. They have some good fast bowlers too,” Dravid said soon after the Indian team’s arrival here.

Lara has played 13 Tests against India, scoring 791 with one century at 37.66. He has 794 runs in 31 one-day matches. Chanderpaul has the best figures of 1280 runs against the Indians, hitting five centuries at 85.33 in 14 matches.

Gayle in eight matches has scored 366 runs while Sarwan has 455 runs in eight games.

“They are a very good team and we have been following their cricket. We expect good cricket against them,” said, Dravid, whose status in world cricket bears little resemblance to his two previous trips of the West Indies in 1997 and 2002.

Dravid first came over in 1997, barely a year old in international cricket and struggled with the disappointment of being ignored in one-day cricket. In 2002, he was burdened with the additional task of wicket-keeping in one-day cricket which many believed was a show of no-confidence from the then captain Sourav Ganguly.

Now he is master of all he surveys, a position he has acquired through his sheer merit and strength of character.

Dravid would have a key role in goading his young team but he expressed great confidence in their ability to come good in the Caribbean.

“We have some exciting young talent in the one-day team who are excited about playing in the West Indies. This tour would be a good experience for them.

“We really want to play in front of this great crowd, in front of people who love the game and love the sport.

“Leading on to some of the important tournaments later on, this will give us a lot of impetus.” The Indian skipper is aware of his team’s drought here since it has not won a series in the Caribbean since 1971. He though wasn’t unduly worried.

“We are not going to worry about history. We are just going to look at this series as a fresh one and then try and do the best we can.” The Indians have only won three of their 38 Test matches played in the Caribbean while losing 16 and draw 19.

The Indians will open their tour on Tuesday with a one-day practice match against Jamaica at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay, Jamaica’s second city, west of the country. — PTI

Sachin will be back very soon: More

New Delhi, May 13
Chief selector Kiran More has said Sachin Tendulkar’s post-surgery rehabilitation programme was progressing at an encouraging pace and he should be back in the team “very soon”.

More said the team was missing Tendulkar not only on the field but also in the dressing room where he was a great influence on up and coming players.

“The team is missing him indeed. He has been our key player for 17 years. It’s not just his batting, he is always there as a senior to help the youngsters,” More told NDTV.

“But he is doing well and hopefully he will be back very soon,” the former wicketkeeper said.

“I had a chat with him and he is following the programme given to him by phsyio John Gloster. Andrew Leipus is also there and Sachin himself too sounded positive (about an early comeback),” More said.

Tendulkar, who underwent a shoulder surgery in March, missed the one-day series against England and has been ruled out of the one-dayers against West Indies beginning on May 18.

Tendulkar to train at MRF Academy

Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar is to train and practice at Chennai’s MRF Academy next week ahead of his fitness test on May 20, a top BCCI source said today.

“Tendulkar is to train at Chennai from May 15 to 20. They have good facilities at the MRF Academy and his training would be overseen by the trainer there, Ramji Srinivasan,” the source said.

The champion batsman is racing against time to get fit before the selectors announce the team for the four-Test series against the West Indies on May 24 after the third ODI.

The Test series runs from June 2 to July 4.

Meanwhile, the ace batsman had another practice session of around two and a half hours this morning at the Bandra-Kurala complex ground belonging to the Mumbai Cricket Association.

He will be missed, says Lara

Kingston: Skipper Brian Lara says Sachin Tendulkar’s absence would deprive the younger players in the West Indies team a chance to learn from the Indian batting genius.

The 37-year-old Lara said presence of a player of Tendulkar’s class would have helped in the development of young West Indies players.

“As team members, we can only learn from a player like that,” Lara said yesterday after nets at Port-Of-Spain ahead of the final two one-dayers against Zimbabwe.

Lara, at the helm of the beleaguered team for the third time, said Tendulkar would also be missed by the cricket loving public of the Caribbean. — PTI

Dhoni hot property in JSCA poll

Jamshedpur, May 13
Indian cricket’s latest pin-up boy Mahendra Singh Dhoni has unwittingly become a hot issue in the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) elections slated for tomorrow.

As the no-holds-barred campaign for the biennial elections reached its crescendo, both the ruling combine and the challengers claimed credit for the dashing wicketkeeper-batsman’s inclusion in the national team.

The dragging of Dhoni’s name is the latest twist in the high-voltage contest at Bokaro that pits Jharkhand Home Minister Sudesh Mahato against incumbent Inspector General of Police Amitabh Choudhury for the president’s post.

Former Test cricketer Ramesh Saxena, along with five ex-Ranji Trophy players from the state and some other members of the rival group, have shot off a questionnaire to Choudhury pooh-poohing his claim that Dhoni’s induction into the Indian cricket team was his achievement.

Saxena has thrown his hat into the ring for the secretary’s slot against incumbent B. N. Singh.

The challengers claimed that the then president of undivided Bihar Cricket Association Sanjay Singh had requested the selectors to include Dhoni in the state Ranji team following his performance in the under-19 final match against Punjab about six year ago, that subsequently paved the way for the player’s induction into the national side. — PTI

Lanka fighting to save Test

London, May 13
Kumar Sangakkara and Upul Tharanga scored half centuries to lead Sri Lanka’s fightback on the third day of the first Test against England at Lord’s today. After being forced to follow on, Lanka ended the day at 183 for 3 in the second innings, still requiring 176 runs to make England bat again.

Earlier, Matthew Hoggard claimed his 200th Test wicket to help dismiss Sri Lanka for 192 and give England a lead of 359 runs at lunch.

England captain Andrew Flintoff, standing in for the injured Michael Vaughan, declared his team’s first innings at 551-6 at tea yesterday and Sri Lanka resumed on 91-6 in reply.

Hoggard became the 10th England bowler to reach the milestone when he caught Farveez Maharoof off his own bowling for 22 in the 11th over of the day. Maharoof had added 16 to his overnight score.

In the following over, wicketkeeper Geraint Jones caught Mahela Jayawardene off an outside edge from the bowling of Flintoff to dismiss the Sri Lanka captain for 61.

Jayawardene, who resumed on 40, was the only batsman to offer any serious resistance with his 118-ball innings including nine fours.

Scoreboard

England (1st innings) 551-6 dec

Sri Lanka (1st innings)

Mubarak lbw Hoggard 0

Tharanga lbw Hoggard 10

Sangakkara c Trescothick b Mahmood 21

Jayawardene c Jones b Flintoff 61

Samaraweera lbw Mahmood 0

Dilshan run out 0

Kapugedera lbw Mahmood 0

Maharoof c&b Hoggard 22

Vaas c Trescothick b Hoggard 31

Kulasekara c Strauss b Flintoff 29

Muralitharan not out 0

Extras (lb-8, nb-10) 18

Total (all out, 55.3 overs) 192

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-21, 3-81, 4-81, 5-85, 6-85, 7-129, 8-131, 9-192.

Bowling: Hoggard 14-4-27-4, Flintoff 17.3-2-55-2, Plunkett 11-0-52-0, Mahmood 13-2-50-3.

Sri Lanka (2nd innings)

Mubarak b Hoggard 6

Tharanga c Jones b Panesar 52

Sangakkara c Jones b Panesar 65

Jayawardene not out 35

Maharoof not out 5

Extras (b-9, lb-8, w-2, nb-1) 20

Total (3 wkts, 64 overs) 183

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-119, 3-178.

Bowling: Hoggard 13-4-26-1, Flintoff 14-2-41-0, Mahmood 10-1-35-0, Plunkett 7-2-28-0, Collingwood 5-1-10-0, Panesar 15-5-26-2. — Agencies

Test recall for Jayasuriya

Colombo, May 13
Sri Lanka batsman Sanath Jayasuriya left for England today after being recalled to the Test team from retirement. Jayasuriya was recalled by a new selection panel headed by former seam bowler Ashantha de Mel, a month after he quit Test cricket, a Sri Lanka Cricket official said.

Sri Lanka is currently in England to play three Tests and five limited-over matches.

Jayasuriya was ruled out of cricket for six weeks when he cut and dislocated his right thumb after a catch in what was perceived to be his final Test match last month, but is expected to be fit to play in the second Test match against England starting in Edgbaston, Birmingham, on May 25.

The 36-year-old is a veteran of 102 Test matches and has scored more than 6,600 runs, including 14 centuries and 29 half-centuries. He has also taken 92 wickets and led Sri Lanka to 18 Test wins out of 38 matches to become the country’s most successful captain.

Jayasuriya announced his retirement before the second and final Test against Pakistan at home early April, saying he wanted to make way for younger players. — AP

Anand outplays Topalov

Sofia (Bulgaria), May 13
World number two Viswanathan Anand delivered when it mattered the most and put it across world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria to reach two points in as many games in the Mtel Masters Super Tournament here.

After beating Frenchman Etienne Bacrot in the first round of the second edition of this prestigious chess event, Anand delivered the goods for the second day running and is set to become the number one rated player in the world — a feat that has thus far eluded the Indian ace.

While the first victory came after Bacrot made a few mistakes while on top, the win against Topalov was nothing of the sort as Anand was simply at his best in handling the positional intricacies and came up with his best attacking game when the situation demanded.

With two points in his kitty, Anand was a full point ahead of Topalov with eight rounds still remaining in the category -20 super tournament being played on a double round-robin basis between six players.

Anand took his tally to a stupendous two points from as many games. Anand also ensured that he will go into the third game with at least half-point lead and the nearest contender for the Indian ace at this stage is former Russian champion Peter Svidler, who scored an emphatic victory over former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine.

With Anand having a cent per cent score in the super tournament, Svidler, having drawn the first round game against Topalov, is just half a point adrift of the Indian.

Anand was at his best against Topalov and cruised to what will be referred to as a great feat against a reigning world champion.

Playing his second black in as many days, Anand was a picture of confidence in the Ruy Lopez game in which Topalov was simply outplayed from a certain point.

While Anand followed simple basics in this all-important encounter, Topalov was always looking for methods to find a way to get a better position and that in the end proved disastrous for the Bulgarian.

Anand got a tangible advantage when Topalov erred in the middle game and gave the Indian ace enough initiative on the king side to launch a direct attack. Not the one to fumble especially when it is a better position, Anand took his chances when the opportunity presented itself and cruised to a memorable victory.

Svidler was the other big gainer of the day as he scored an emphatic victory over Ponomariov, who employed the Sicilian Nazdorf as black. Svidler took 43 moves to score his first win in the event.

Sasikiran loses

Sarajevo: Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran succumbed to his second defeat against 2005 European champion Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania in the sixth round of Bosnia 2006 International Grandmasters Chess Tournament here.

The Indian, who had also lost the first round game against the same opponent, meekly bowed out of contention for top honours after the defeat and will now be looking forward to save his rating in the high-category event being played on a double round-robin basis between six players.

It turned out to be a good day for Nisipeanu as the Romanian emerged as the sole leader on four points from six games played so far.

Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Russian GM Vladimir Malakhov lost the joint lead after both drew a tense game, while on the other board Borki Predojevic of Bosnia and Herzegovina scored a fine victory over Arkadij Naiditsch.

With Nisipeanu in the lead, both Carlsen and Malakhov are half a point adrift of him on 3.5 points along with Predojevioc, while Sasikiran stands lone fifth on two points.

Arkadij Naiditsch is on the last spot currently on 1.5 points with just four rounds left.

Sasikiran, who was playing with white, employed the Capablanca variation against the Nimzo Indian defence and the Romanian came up with an opening surprise by going for a pawn sacrifice variation.

Declining the offer, Sasikiran got a reasonable position in the middle game but erred in the endgame that allowed Nisipeanu to win an exchange. The remaining technicalities were far from easy but Nisipeanu thwarted Sasikiran’s attempt in style to wrap up the tie after 67 moves. — PTI

Petition against Jindal’s election as HOA chief

Hisar, May 13
The Abhey Chautala group, which was dislodged from the Haryana Olympic Association last week, has moved court against the election of Naveen Jindal, MP, as its new president. “We have filed a petition against the election of Naveen Jindal as president of Haryana Olympic Association and the court has fixed hearing for May 20 in this case,” said Puran Singh Dabra, INLD president of the Hisar district unit.

“We have apprised the association’s Delhi headquarters of the matter,” he said.

Meeting venue changed

Chandigarh: The Haryana Olympic Association (Abhey Chautala group) will hold its executive and general body meetings as schedule tomorrow at 11 and 12 noon, respectively. However, the venue of the meetings has been changed from Haryana Olympic Bhawan in Sector 3, Panchkula, to Chandigarh “with a view to maintaining peace.”

According to Mr Abhey Chautala the shifting of the venue of the meetings was necessitated as “the self-styled HOA president Naveen Jindal and other officials had forcibly captured the Haryana Olympic Bhawan with the help of the police force on May 6. All affiliated units of the HOA have been informed about the change of the venue. The agenda of the meetings will, however, remain the same as circulated earlier.” — UNI, TNS

No plan to set up defence varsity: SAI
Ravi Dhaliwal

Patiala, May 13
The issue pertaining to the setting up of a defense university in place of the NIS here was virtually consigned to the backburner with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Director General (DG) maintaining that neither the SAI Corporate Office in New Delhi nor the NIS here had received any proposal till yet regarding the establishing of such an university in place of the NIS.

The SAI DG Mr R. P. Wattal, who was here to attend the graduation ceremony meant for students undergoing the Diploma in Sports Coaching, said despite the Punjab Chief Minister’s repeated assertions to establish a defense university, he had not received anything in writing about it till yet from either the Union or the Punjab government.

Mr Wattal, who also undertook a tour of the NIS and inspected the facilities and infrastructure at the institute, added that a sale deed was signed in 1988 with the government of India according to which the institute’s building stood transferred to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

He disclosed that at present, according to the contents of the sale deed, SAI was the sole guardian of the buildings located within the precincts of the NIS.

When it was pointed out that the Sports Minister Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar’s recent trip to the NIS had fuelled speculation that the minister’s visit had something to do with the setting up of a defense varsity, Mr Wattal said the minister’s brief sojourn to the institute had nothing to do with the issue.

He added that till yet, as was being propagated by the Chief Minister, neither any course nor any infrastructure had been transferred to SAI Southern Centre at Bangalore.

The SAI DG added that special attention was being given to the conservation and renovation of the institute’s main palace building through INTACH, a body which specialises in the conservation of buildings having heritage value. He said that INTACH had already carried out the survey of the main palace building and had submitted a report to the Government of India in which it has been detailed that the entire work of maintaining the heritage status of the palace building will be carried out at a cost of Rs 2.39 crore.

To further strengthen their claims over the NIS, Mr Wattal disclosed that SAI had prepared an elaborate five year development plan to turn the NIS into a world class sports training centre so that national camps could be held here and probables can be given proper training.

In the first phase of the plan, the DG, in the morning, laid the foundation stone of a 100 bedded additional women’s hostel to be constructed at a cost of Rs 4 crore. The entire top brass of the NIS, including the Regional Director Mr L. Ranawat, was present on the occasion. The foundation stone was laid adjacent to the existing women’s hostel. He also inaugurated a sauna bath facility.

Taking a tour around the campus, Mr Wattal also inspected the new projects coming up in the institute which include the installation of flood lights at both the athletic synthetic track and the volleyball courts.

The DG, who was also associated with the successful conduct of the 2002 Hyderabad Afro-Asian Games, added that in the second phase of the five year development plan, a number of projects had been approved and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) had already been assigned the job of preparing detailed estimates. These projects included the construction of a 200 bedded hostel for elite sportspersons, laying down of an additional athletics synthetic track, laying of three synthetic tennis courts with flood lights and the construction both indoor and outdoor shooting ranges.

Karun grabs pole position

Sepang, May 13
India’s former A1 driver Karun Chandhok dominated the qualifying session of the newly introduced Formula V6 Asia by Renault today to take the pole position for the sprint race with a time of 1:58.324s for Team E-Rain.

Finishing positions in the sprint race will determine the grid for the 20-lap grand race.

Chandhok, who only completed four laps, said he was delighted with his time around the 5.54km Sepang Circuit.

“I was quite surprised to have clocked such a quick time,” he said. “The cars are slower than the A1s but to be just two seconds off their pace is really remarkable. I’m really impressed with the car and this championship.

“I’m quite confident ahead of tomorrow’s race,” he said.

Japan’s Ikeda Daisuke was second with 1:58.990s, while Team Meritus’ Hamad Al Fardan of Bahrain was third in 1:59.593s. — UNI

Ashok hangs on to lead 

It was a day when his putter went cold, but young Ashok Kumar’s desire to break through and change the course of his career, kept him in contention through a tough third day at the inaugural $ 400,000 Aamby Valley Asian Masters at Aamby Valley, near Mumbai, today. Ashok came back with a one-over 73 which was highlighted by a 15-foot birdie on the closing hole, the 18th , which saw just seven birdies during the day and once again proved to be the toughest hole.

“That was the only time I seemed to get a decent birdie,” commented Ashok Kumar, as he kept a share of the lead with South African Hendrik Buhrmann (65) and Englishman Simon Hurd (69). Buhrmann, who admitted on the first day that he was taking a holiday approach to see if he could snare his first win in Asia in 11 years, equalled the course record set by Shiv Kapur last year and he was in scintillating form with two eagles, four birdies and just one bogey on the 16 th .

Buhrmann gave credit to his Indian caddie Inder Pal, who had to take a train ride over one and a half days to get to Aamby Valley. Buhrmann said: “He caddied when I finished third in the Hero Honda Indian Open last year and he read the greens good over there. It’s nice. I’m happy for him to have come all the way here.”

England’s Simon Griffiths, who is playing competitive golf after a three-year hiatus, quietly moved up the leaderboard with an impressive 67 to lie one off the co-leaders, while Australian rookie Kane Webber was a further two strokes back on 209 following a 66. Gaurav Ghei (68) and Rahul Ganapathy (69) put themselves in with a great chance to register a top-10 finish. Ghei was tied seventh at five-under and Ganapathy was tied ninth with four-under.

Ashok stumbled early on, dropping a bogey on the fourth and a double bogey on the par three sixth after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. He battled courageously with four birdies and two more dropped shots over his remaining holes.

Ghei, winner of the Gadgil Western Masters back in 1995, was six-under after 15 and looked set to be in a position to challenge the leaders on the final day, when he dropped two shots on the last three holes. “I bogeyed the 16th and 18th and that was a big disappointment,” said Ghei, who is now tied seventh.

Scores after 54 holes: 206: Ashok Kumar 67-66-73 ; Hendrik Buhrmann 66-75-65; Simon Hurd 67-70-69; 207: Simon Griffiths 68-72-67; 209: Kane Webber 69-74-66; 210: Terry Pilkadaris 72-71-67; 211: Marcus Both 70-71-70; Gaurav Ghei 74-69-68; Rahul Ganapathy 74-69-69; 212: Garth Mulroy 74-68-70; 213: Corey Harris 69-73-71; Iain Steel 72-72-69; 214: Barry Hume 70-72-72; Darren Griff 73-71-70; Yasin Ali 71-72-71; 215: Keith Horne 68-75-72; Olle Nordberg 73-70-72; S.S.P. Chowrasia 70-74-71; 216: Craig Warren 73-75-68; Rahil Gangjee 73-69-74 ; Jarrod Moseley 69-72-75; Pornsakon Tipsanit 71-75-70; Airil Rizman Zahari 69-74-73; Uttam Singh Mundy 69-75-72; 217: Ali Sher 72-73-72; Bryan Saltus 71-70-76; Gurbaaz Mann 71-74-72; Mukesh Kumar 69-74-74 ; Michael Wright 71-77-69; Anthony Kang 74-74-69; Anthony Brown 73-71-73

Other Indians: 219: Ranjit Singh 72-72-75; Firoz Ali 67-73-79; 220: C. Muniyappa 72-76-72; Amandeep Johl 71-75-74; 222: Vikrant Chopra 76-71-75; 223: Shiv Prakash 74-74-75; Harinder Gupta 74-72-77; 224: Jumma 74-71-79; 226: Digvijay Singh 73-75-78 234: D.S. Raghuvanshi 79-68-87; 235: Binod Pandey 75-73-87. —TNS

Jeev rises to tied 15th 

Gifu (Japan), May 13
Jeev Milkha Singh gave an excellent display of putting, carding a fine four-under 68 that saw him jump 31 spots to tied 15th place at the end of the third round of the Japan PGA Championship.

Jeev had five birdies and just one bogey in his round. At one stage, he ran up four birdies in a row from second to sixth holes.

Jeev is now five-under for 54 holes and six behind the leader, Toru Taniguchi (69). Jeev's only bogey of the day came on the 14th.

Toru Taniguchi took a three-shot lead with a three-under 69 at the end of three rounds. He was one clear of fellow Japanese pro, Tadahiro Takayama (69), while four players were tied for third place.

Jyoti tied 25th

Birmingham: Shiv Kapur slotted two crucial birdies on his second nine to card two-over 74 and squeeze inside the cut line at even-par 144 at the end of the second round of $ 3.2 million Quinn Direct British Masters at the De Vere Belfry.

Jyoti Randhawa had no such worries as he added a second- round 72 to his first round 70 and at 142 was placed tied 25th. Kapur was tied 50th, while another Asian Tour player, Australian David Bransdon with rounds of 69 and 72 was at tied 19th at 141.

Atwal misses cut

IRVING (USA): Arjun Atwal missed the cut by one despite three successive birdies on the last three holes in the second round of the $ 6.2 million EDS Byron Nelson tournament.

Atwal shot a one-under 69 at Cottonwood Valley Golf Course and with his first round 73, he ended at two-over 142 and one outside the cut line.

Also missing the cut was Daniel Chopra, who shot a second round of 68 and totaled 144. — PTI

231 NIS students awarded diplomas
Our Sports Reporter

Patiala, May 13
A total of 231 students were awarded diplomas in sports coaching at the 43rd annual graduation ceremony held at the NIS here today. The diplomas were given away by Sports Authority of India Director-General R.P. Wattal in the presence of Regional Director L.Ranawat, top officials of the NIS and national and international-level sportspersons.

Dalveer Singh (athletics) was awarded the best student award as he fulfilled all requisite parameters. Twenty-seven students, including Dalveer, were honoured for having 100 per cent attendance. Of a total of 231 candidates, 26 were given A grades, while 198 and 7 were awarded B and C grades respectively.

The toppers in respective sports disciplines were Dalveer Singh (athletics), Manish Gupta (badminton), R.L Prasad (basketball), A.Kamesh (Boxing), Ms. Rupali Slathia (cricket), Jaya Krishan (cycling), Sagar Suresh Lagoo (fencing), Mohammad Sallauddin (football), Mohan M.Manmode (gymnastics), Sunil Kumar (handball), Pawan Kumar Sharma (hockey), Madhushree S Desai (judo), Ravish Vaid (table tennis), Rajiv Gaur (volleyball), S.C. Rajan (weightlifting), Satish (wrestling) and Abhilash Saxena (Wushu).

The Executive Director (academics), SAI, Mr M.P. Ganesh, who was the guest of honour and was also scheduled to deliver an address, was conspicuous by his absence. Later, a vote of thanks was proposed by Mr G.S. Bawa, in charge (academics), who had also read out the annual report.

Anju finishes poor seventh

New Delhi, May 13
Anju Bobby George’s disappointing season continued as the world number four finished a lowly seventh at the Qatar IAAF Super Tour at Doha. Anju, who was the top ranked long jumper in the event, could manage only 6.43m and failed to make the most of the absence of the top three athletes — Tatyana Kotova, Tianna Madison and Grace Upshaw, who skipped the meet.

The gold medal went to world number five Oksana Udmurtova of Russia who created a new meet record with a jump of 7.02m, the season’s best so far. The silver was claimed by her compatriot Tatyana Lebedeva, who set the meet record here last year, by leaping 6.97m.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Australian Bronwyn Thompson was way behind in third place with 6.76m. — PTI

Compiled by Pankaj Vasudeva; graphic by Gaurav Sood